Legends, Tales and Poems. Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo
Gestoso y Pérez. Carta á Mr. Achille Fouquier is the title of a valuable article in La Ilustración Artistica, Barcelona, December 27, 1886, pp. 363–366. This article contains important genealogical matter regarding Becquer, which had not until that time been published.
Eduardo de Lustono. Becquer is the titie of a sketch by this writer, published in Alrededor del Mundo, No. 109, July 4, 1901, pp. 11–13, and No. 110, July 11, 1901, pp. 22–23. It is largely a copy of the article by Narciso Campillo, mentioned above, and of the following by Rodriguez Correa.
Ramón Rodriguez Correa. Prólogo de las Obras de Gustavo A. Becquer. Quinta edición, Madrid, Fernando Fé, 1898. Vol. I, pp. IX-XLV. This is the principal biography of Becquer and the source of all the others. Its author was Becquer's most intimate friend.
Juan Valera. In Florilegio de Poesías Castellanas del Siglo XIX, Tomo I, Madrid, Fernando Fé, 1902, pp. 182–191, may be found an excellent appreciation of the poet by one of the most capable of Spanish critics and a personal friend of Becquer.
P. Restituto del Valle Ruiz, Agustino. In his Estudios Literarios, pp. 104–116, there is a chapter devoted to Gustavo A. Becquer, which contains an interesting critique of his poetry.
Mrs. (Mary A.) Humphrey Ward, in Macmillan's Magazine, No. 280, February, 1883, pp. 305–320, has an article entitled "A Spanish Romanticist: Gustavo Becquer." This is one of the best articles on Becquer that have been published.
SPANISH PROSODY
The basis for the following remarks on Spanish prosody is, for the most part, E. Benot's Prosodia Castellana y Versification, 3 vols., Madrid, 1892. Other works which have been consulted are the Ortologia y Arte Metrica of A. Bello, published in his Obras Completas, vol. 4, Madrid, 1890; Rengifo's Arte Poètica Española, Barcelona, 1759; J. D. M. Ford's "Notes on Spanish Prosody," in A Spanish Anthology, published by Silver, Burdett & Co., 1901; and a Tratado de Literatura Preceptiva, by D. Saturnino Milego é Inglada, published at Toledo in 1887.
Spanish versification has nothing to do with the quantity of vowels (whether long or short), which was the basis of Latin prosody.
There are four important elements in Spanish versification. Of these four elements two are essential, and the other two are usually present.
The essential elements, without which Spanish verse cannot exist, are—
I. A determined number of syllables per line.
II. A rhythmic distribution of the accents in the line.
The additional elements usually present in Spanish poetical compositions are—
III. Caesural pauses.
IV. Rhyme.
I. SYLLABIFICATION
Consonants.—In verse the same rules hold as in prose for the distribution of consonants in syllables.
Vowels.—If there were but one vowel in a syllable, Spanish syllabification would be easy; but sometimes two or more vowels are found either between consonants, or at the beginning or at the end of a word. When such is the case, intricacies arise, for sometimes the contiguous vowels are pronounced in a single syllable and sometimes they are divided into separate syllables.
The contiguous vowels may belong to a single word (see A); or they may be the final vowel or vowels of one word and the initial vowel or vowels of a following word or words (see B).
A. Diphthongization,—If two contiguous vowels of a single word are pronounced in but one syllable they form a diphthong, e.g. hu^esped.
B. Synalepha.—If two or more contiguous vowels belonging to two or more words are pronounced in a single syllable, they form synalepha.
Ex. Yo sé^un himno gigante y^extraño, p. 164, I, l. 1.
Since Spanish verse depends upon a determined number of syllables per line, diphthongization and synalepha are important factors in versification.
Mute h between vowels is disregarded and does not prevent diphthongization, e.g. a^h^ora, re^h^usar.
The separation of two vowels that are usually united in one syllable is called diaeresis, e.g. vi|oleta.
The union in one syllable of two vowels that are usually in separate syllables is called synaeresis, e.g. ca^os.
The vowels may be divided into strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, u). For purposes of versification y as a vowel may be treated as i. The five vowels (a, e, o, i, u) taken in pairs may form diphthongs in twenty-five possible combinations, as follows:
a. Pairs of two weak vowels: ui, iu, ii, uu.
b. Pairs of two strong vowels:
{ ae, ao, aa,
{ ea, eo, ee,
{ oa, oe, oo.
c. Pairs of a strong vowel plus a weak vowel
{ ai, au,
{ ei, eu,
{ oi, ou.
d. Pairs of a weak vowel plus a strong vowel
{ ua, ue, uo,
{ ia, ie, io.
NOTE: In diphthongs a dominates o and e; and o dominates e. Any strong vowel dominates a weak one.
Ex. In Bo^abdíl, if a were not dominant, the diphthong would be dissolved.
There are with regard to accent three possible conditions under which two contiguous vowels may occur within a word.
a. The contiguous vowels may precede the accented syllable.
b. One of the contiguous vowels may be accented.
c. The contiguous vowels may come after the accented syllable.
a. Two contiguous vowels before the accent.
(1) Of the twenty-five possible combinations all are admissible in diphthongs in a syllable preceding the accented syllable.
Ex. Habrá po^esta, p. 165, IV, l. 4.
(a) Diaeresis may be employed to dissolve the diphthong.
Ex. Sobre una vi|oleta, p. 169, XIII, l. 8.
b. One of two contiguous vowels accented.
(1) When two contiguous vowel's are strong.
(a) There is no diphthong if one of two contiguous strong vowels receives the accent.
Ex. Chispë|ando el sol hiere, p. 173, XXVI I, l. 17.
Ex. Tú, sombra a|érea que, cuantas veces, p. 170, XV, l. 7.
By synaeresis, however, a diphthong may be formed, especially in the combinations á^o, á^e, ó^e—c^a^o^s, c^a^e, ro^e. But in order to diphthongize oa, ea, and eo, when the accent naturally falls on the first vowel, the accent must shift to the second, which is a dominant vowel. Such diphthongization is harsh. For example, loa would shift the accent from o to a in order to form a diphthong. The accent would also shift in cre^a, fe^o.
(2) When one of the contiguous vowels is weak and the other strong.
(a) There is no diphthong if an accented weak vowel precedes a strong.
Ex. Yo, que á tus ojos en mi agoní|a, p. 171, XV, l. 18. Synaeresis is, however, sometimes employed to overcome this rule. The accent must then shift.
Ex. Habi^a llegado una nave. Calderón.
(b) There is no diphthong if an accented weak vowel follows a strong.
Ex. ¿Cómo